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How Did Volkswagen Cheat Emissions Tests, and Who Authorized It?
Lucas123 writes: The method by which Volkswagen diesel cars were able to thwart emissions tests and spew up to 40X the nitrogen oxide levels set by the Environmental Protection Agency was relatively simple. It was more likely no more than a single line of code used to detect when an emissions test was being performed and place the emissions system in an alternate mode — something as simple as a software "on/off" switch. Volkswagen AG CEO Martin Winterkorn, who stepping down as the result of his company's scandal, has said he had no knowledge of the emissions cheat, but software dev/test audit trails are almost certain to pinpoint who embedded the code and who authorized it. You can actually see who asked the developer to write that code," said Nikhil Kaul, a product manager at test/dev software maker SmartBear Software. "Then if you go upstream you can see who that person's boss was...and see if testing happened...and, if testing didn't happen. So you can go from the bottom up to nail everyone."
You'd have to have a *lot* of programmers to be checking in millions of lines of code every minute.
And I'm not sure *any* rate of check-ins would justify not using a version control system.
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
It's been a while since I watched my car being tested but do they hook up the car to a computer terminal of some sort? Could those be used to trigger test mode?
The test mode was triggered by monitoring which wheels were turning, position of the steering wheel, etc.
Basically they wanted to avoid the cost of installing a urea injection system so they cheated instead. Honda engineers were reported to be perplexed about how they managed to do this miraculous feat of engineering.
Here's a good article about what is known so far:
http://www.msn.com/en-us/autos...
I wonder whether someone actually gave the order to implement a 'test defeat device' or they just started to optimize the engine to comply with regulation and to pass the test and then they went too far.
Someone in management made the decision to not install a urea injection system which is necessary to keep emissions to legal levels but costs a lot of money. Reportedly something like $400/vehicle. So it seems pretty clear that their "solution" to the problem was simply to cheat. This wasn't a case of optimization gone awry. They flat out knew what they were doing and went ahead with it anyway. As soon as they made the decision to not install urea injection, they effectively decided to cheat at that time because they were asking for the technologically impossible. There is no way they didn't know that their decision to leave off such a key piece of equipment would not result in unacceptable emissions. The engineers at VW aren't dumb. The decision was made for financial reasons (not surprising) but was aided and abetted by a bunch of engineers that should have known better.
The only real question seems to be who made the decision and who was responsible for executing it and covering it up.
According to news reports (BBC etc.) it used a combination of inputs. Steering wheel position, barometric pressure variation over time, rate of acceleration, speed, g sensor stability etc.
Also, to enable the cheat mode the engine would have had to load a different set of operating parameters. Those parameters must be stored somewhere, and doubtless constitute more than a single line of code.
Some thought must have gone into this fraud.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
The way this was discovered (*1) was by an independent university group taking purchased vehicles and connecting it up with sensors and running it over real roads in real traffic conditions over long periods of time and comparing it to the rolling road test results. It's not an astronomical cost but if you are just looking for basical emission data then there are much simpler methods (namely a rolling road).
*1 - assuming this wasn't a case of parallel construction and the real road test data is just collecting evidence for what somebody already knew was happening.
These comments are my personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the other voices in my head.
Definitely been going on for at least 17 years, and many other companies besides VW are getting caught.
"On October 22, 1998, the Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency announced an $83.4 million total penalty against diesel manufacturers, the largest civil penalty ever for violation of environmental law...The seven companies sold 1.3 million heavy duty diesel engines containing illegal "defeat devices," which allow an engine to pass the EPA emissions test, but then turn off emission controls during highway driving. As a result, these engines emit up to three times the current level for NOx a harmful air pollutant."
http://www2.epa.gov/enforcement/detroit-diesel-corporation-diesel-engine-settlement
You can find many more examples of enforcement at:
http://www2.epa.gov/enforcement/clean-air-act-vehicle-and-engine-enforcement-case-resolutions
(AC because I work in the industry.)
"It is estimated that the effects of NO 2 on mortality are equivalent to 23,500 deaths annually in the UK" -- UK dept. for environment and rural affairs https://consult.defra.gov.uk/a... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/busi...
"Volkswagen’s rigging of emissions tests for 11m cars means they may be responsible for nearly 1m tonnes of air pollution every year, roughly the same as the UK’s combined emissions for all power stations, vehicles, industry and agriculture, a Guardian analysis suggests." http://www.theguardian.com/bus...
The hard part here comes from "get it in writing".
When someone three layers of food-chain above you tells you "do this", you don't get to refuse until you have it in writing (unless you already have a new job lined up - and even then, don't expect that one to go any differently).
Now, you can certainly try to get them on record - You can ask them to write up a quick spec for what they want; you can ask them to submit the Change Management request because you don't have the authority to approve this one; you can send emails asking for clarification; and as a last resort, you can just document the change as "at the request of Boss X". In the real world, however, we've all dealt with people who refuse to do anything except by phone or in person.
And at that point, it becomes your word against theirs. Guess who can afford the better lawyer? And even that assumes it completely blows up - If it remains an internal matter, you won't even get the chance to present your side of the situation, just pack your belongings up and GTFO.
as there is a perfectly legal reason to detect an emissions test -- that the traction control and stability control doesn't go crazy.